Sheriff Tiraspol lost 2-0 to Manchester United in Moldova today, with their Nigerian forwards Rasheed Akanbi and Iyayi Atiemwen shooting blanks in the UEFA Europa League Group E clash.
Akanbi and Atiemwen, who both scored last week in the 3-0 away win against Omonia Nicosia, were lively against the English club, but goals from Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo earned Manchester United their first win of the group stage.
Sancho struck from inside the Sheriff box in the 17th minute and Ronaldo netted a 39th minute penalty for his first Europa League goal and 699th of his prolific career.
Akanbi was taken off in the 73rd minute, with Atiemwen following him out eight minutes later.
In the other Group E fixture today, Super Eagles goalkeeper Francis Uzoho was left on the bench as an unused substitute as Omonia lost 2-1 to leaders Real Sociedad.
The match would have been a straight battle between two Nigeria internationals, but Real Sociedad striker Umar Sadiq has been ruled out for the rest of the season after injuring his knee and Uzoho was watching from the bench.
Ander Guevara fired the Spanish hosts in front in the 30th minute but Omonia pulled level through Bruno Felipe with 18 minutes left in the game.
Alexander Sorloth netted the winner in the 80th minute to keep Sociedad on top of the group standings with six points from two games.
In the UEFA Europa Conference League, Super Eagles forward Peter Olayinka starred for Slavia Prague as they defeated Ballkani 3-2 in Group G.
Olayinka scored Slavia Prague’s second goal and set up the third as the Czech side rose to the top of the group with four points.
Olayinka has now scored two goals in two games in the competition, having netted Slavia Prague’s only goal in their 1-1 draw with Sivasspor last week.
In the same group, Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa started for Sivasspor and played for 57 minutes in their 1-0 win at CFR Cluj.
In other Europa League fixtures in the evening kick-offs, Group F was lit up with goals as FC Midtjylland thrashed Lazio 5-1 and Feyenoord spanked Sturm Graz 6-0.
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